MILLER: Getting to know Mikhail Aleshin

You can learn a lot about someone by sitting next to them in an airport for five hours while you wait for your flight. All I really knew about Mikhail Aleshin before our tête-à-tête in Toronto was that he loved the loud pedal. But there's a lot more to the 29-year-old Russian racer than bravery. For instance:

He once wrote a column on Formula 1 for a Moscow newspaper's website.

"I feel asleep a lot during the races, but I wrote every week."

He was instrumental in getting IndyCar races on television in his homeland.

"I helped convince them [MATCH TV] to carry the races – the first one was the 2014 Indianapolis 500 and they're carrying the whole season this year. It's not on prime time but it's getting more popular. People used to watch F1 but now they're watching more and more IndyCar."

He's got a following.

"I'm not a pop star but sometimes when I'm home and go out for dinner, they recognize me."

Coming up the ranks in Europe, he spent a lot of time in the stewards' office for being too aggressive and has been accused of the same thing in the States.

"I'm not a gentleman driver, but I'm not going to kill you to win a race."

He enjoys being a driver coach for the SMP program when he's home because he never had any kind of assistance and SMP is keeping him in the Schmidt-Peterson Racing seat.

"I like to coach the kids and watch how they progress. SMP is really great because it supports 50 drivers in Russian, from go-karts to open-wheel to Le Mans prototypes to IndyCar."

He had no racing heritage, or funding, in his family.

"My parents didn't have any money to support my racing and I never had any kind of coaching – I just jumped in a go-kart and went faster than the instructor, so that's how it all started for me."

He was sent out to qualify an insane five times this past May before nailing down a spot in the Fast Nine.

"It was quite good fun for me."

"He said his father wasn't mad or Russsian and I told him I wasn't mad either."

He'll always be indebted to the Holmatro Safety Team and IndyCar medical staff for saving his life on the track at Fontana in 2014.

"I wouldn't be sitting here today if they hadn't reacted like they did."

He had a couple Formula 1 tests after winning the 2010 Formula Renault championship but is thankful to be in IndyCar.

"It's a fight in IndyCar at every race and it's fun to fight. There is no better racing anywhere and you don't see that kind of fighting in F1."

He knows he's not the most sociable driver in the IndyCar paddock but he's here to race, not make friends.

"I'm friends with Hinch (teammate James Hinchcliffe) and Simon (Pagenaud)."

He's got a delightful, dry sense of humor.

"I was married once for a few weeks; I guess it didn't work."

He's looking forward to his first corn dog and Elephant Ear during "Tony Kanaan night," our own personal trip with drivers and team PR reps to the Indiana State Fair.

"We're not racing that week so I will try them."

He really likes ovals.

"I didn't know exactly what I was doing but I loved everything about them. It was completely different from anything I'd ever done and it was perfect because I love going fast."

He may be from Moscow but he totally "gets" the Indianapolis 500.

"It's incomparable. The first time you see it you understand that it's something special and something different. I'm living a dream every time I drive the car but there is nothing like the feeling at the Indy 500."

OLDENBURG BATTLING BACK

Don Oldenburg, the veteran IndyCar chief mechanic for SPM, appears to be winning his battle with cancer. Here was his Sunday morning post on Facebook:

"Crazy year so far, bought a new farm house in February, diagnosed with cancer in March following a routine physical, won our 2nd Indy 500 pole in May, looks like successful cancer surgery at the end of June. All tests have come back negative so far, the final one is about two weeks away. Still healing after the surgery, but will soon start a new chapter. Not sure what it's going to be, but I hope it's as fun and rewarding as the last 7 years."

Good news about a good guy.